People with speech and language disorders face an increased risk of violence and sexual assault, but very often, they do not get the chance to tell their story to the police.
In this project, police officers get trained to use alternative and augmentative communication during the police interview, so that victims with speech and language disorders can can get their voices heard.
The aim of this research project is to explore police officers' experiences with conducting police interviews with people with speech, language and communication disorders. Such police interviews can in some cases be conducted with the use of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC-based police interviews), but such interviews also present practical and legal challenges. In the project, we examine challenges and possibilities from the perspective of police officers.
The research design of the study is qualitative, with vignette-based focus group interviews as well as individual interviews. Police officers were interviewed immediately after course completion and also one year later, after they have conducted some AAC-based interviews.
